Online video is key to helping brands maintain and improve their visibility, especially brands with a strong media presence.

That is among the findings of a Harris Interactive study commissioned for digital ad firm Digitas. Forty-nine percent of the people surveyed who followed a company on a social network said they are somewhat likely to click on a video about that company. That goes up to 45 percent in people over 35 and 58 percent for adults 18-34, the study said. The online study of 2,211 adults was conducted in late March.

"Brand content has become an integral part of any successful marketing strategy. Whether you're thinking about mobile, social, b2b, or any facet of marketing, content is now at the heart of everything we do," said Stephanie Sarofian, managing director of The Third Act unit of Digitas. "There is immense opportunity, right now, for brands to engage consumers through content-marketing across all channels."

Beginning in June, the Pittsburgh Business Times is sponsoring its own social media contest where companies can show off their savvy in a local bracket-style competition that will move nationally for the local winners. It's called Social Madness presented by Capital One Spark Business.

It works like this: You can nominate your company for entry, and during the contest period improve your social profile and followers while showcasing your social-media program to Pittsburgh and beyond. Companies will be ranked based on a scoring algorithm that measures social influence. The algorithm will gauge votes on bizjournals.com, LinkedIn Connections, Facebook activity and Twitter followers during the challenge.

But hurry: The nomination period runs through May 15.

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